Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/108

 I. ALLGEMEINES UND SPRACHE. 4. VEDIC GRAMMAR. a. Exceptions to this rule are the rare monosyllabic stems in -a, which retain the accent on the stem; e. g. gná- 'woman': pl. I. gná-bhis, L. gná-su. Individual exceptions are gó- 'cow', dyo- 'sky'; e. g. I. gáv-ā, pl. G. gáv-ām, I. gó-bhis; L. dyáv-i, pl. I. dyú- bhis. Similarly - 'man': D. nár-e, pl. I. nr-bhis, L. n-su, but G. nar-ám and nr-nám; kşám- 'earth'; L. kşám-i; tán- ‘succession: I. tán-a (and tan-á), D. tán-e; rán- ‘joy': rán-e, pl. L. rám-su; ván- 'wood': pl. L. vám-su (but G. van-ám); vip- 'rod': G. vip-as; stý- 'star': pl. I. sty-bhis; svàr- 'light': G. súr-as (but D. sur-é); also the infinitives badh-e 'to press', váh-e 'to convey'. In some words the irregular accentuation is due to their having originally been dissyllables; such are dri- 'wood', snú- 'summit', fván- 'dog', yun- weak stem of yúvan 'young'; e. g. I. drú-nā; pl. L. snú-şu; I. śún-ā, pl. vá-bhis; I. yun-ā ¹. 98 2. When the accented vowel of the final syllable in polysyllabic stems disappears either by syncope or by changing to a semivowel, the acute is thrown on endings with initial vowel in the weak cases; thus from mahimán- 'greatness', I. mahimn-á; from mūrdhán- 'head', D. mūrdhn-é; from agní- 'fire', G. du. agny-ós; from dheni 'cow', I. sing. dhenv-á; from vadhú- 'bride', D. vadhv-ái (AV.); from pit'- 'father', 1. pitr-á. a. Polysyllabic stems in -í, -, -, and in the RV. usually those in -ī, throw the acute on the ending of the G. pl. also, even though the vowel retains its syllabic character in this case; e. g. agni-nám, dhenū-nám, dātṛ-nám; bahvi-nám ² 2 3. Present participles in -át and -ánt throw the acute on the endings with initial vowel in the weak cases; e. g. from tud-ánt- 'striking': I. sing. tud-at-á (buť tud-ád-bhis). This rule is also followed by the old participles mah-át- 'great' and brh-át ‘large', e. g. mahat-á (but mahád-this) ³. 4. In the RV. derivatives formed with accented -añc throw the acute on endings with initial vowel in the weak cases when contraction to ī and ū appears in the final syllable; thus from praty-ánc- 'turned towards', I. sing. pratic-á (but L. pl. pratyák-su); from anv-ánc- 'following'; G. anuc-ás (but from pránc- L. sing. prác-i). The other Samhitãs, however, generally retain the accent on the stem¹. 4. Verbal Accent. 95. As regards personal endings, those of the singular active in all tenses and moods are always unaccented except the 2. imperative -dhi or -hí. Others may be accented; if dissyllabic, they have the acute on the first syllable, as -ánti, -máhi. When the tense stem ends in -a in the present, in the future, in the unaugmented imperfect and aorist, and throughout the subjunctive, the accent is never on the ending, as it remains on the same syllable of the stem throughout. 96. All tenses formed with the augment invariably accent the latter, if the verb is accented at all (85, 2); e. g. impf. á-bhara-t, plupf. á-jagan, aor. á-bhu-t, conditional á-bharisya-t. If the augment is dropped, the accen- tuation is as follows. In the imperfect the acute is on the same syllable as in the present; e. g. bhára-t, pres. bhára-ti. The pluperfect, if regularly hardly more than one third of the stems | the plural cardinals in -a: as páñca 'five', occurring; see WHITNEY 390 a; cp. LANMAN | pañca-núm, dáśa 'ten', daśā-nám. 494, 499, 504 top, 505. When a monosyllable becomes the final member of a compound, it loses its mono- syllabic accent; e. g. su-dhi- 'wise', G. pl. su-dhinam. On the other hand prés- pressing on' thougb a compound (pra-is-) is accented like monosyllables in the I. sing. preș-á. 2 This regularly takes place in the G. of 3 The accent is, however, not shifted in the old participle vāghát- m. 'worshipper'; nor in the two forms a-codát-e 'not urging' (from cód-ant-) and rathirayát-ām 'speeding'; cp. LANMAN p. 505-6 (top). 4 Thus the f. stem pratic-i- (AV.), but RV. pratici (cnce in the A. praticim).